


A Shield's Lesson.

by LazuliAlekto



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Episode Ignis Verse 2, Forgiveness, Gladio has no filter, Ignis has a temper, M/M, Subverting Fate, World of Ruin, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25145977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazuliAlekto/pseuds/LazuliAlekto
Summary: The working title for this was 'Gladio fucked up'A little snippet of life in the World of Ruin, Ignis snapping after Gladio makes a few less than considered comments, and how Gladio tries to fix things.“Ig…” Gladio began.“No, I think you have said enough,” Ignis cut him off.“Uh, guys?” Prompto said meekly.Cor shook his head, “no, he needs to hear what Ignis has to say.”  He fixed Gladio with an implacable glare, “and you need to listen, carefully.”
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 12
Kudos: 130





	A Shield's Lesson.

**Author's Note:**

> For once, the relationship between Ignis and Noctis isn't the focus here. It's mentioned briefly, but this was more about Ignis, his temper and how he managed to find a way to save Noct. This is from Gladio's point of view, and in this it's taken from the Episode Ignis v2 ending, so the argument on the train didn't happen. Instead, Gladio says something stupid and Ignis snaps after they get back from Gralea, Noct in the crystal.

“Maybe if he’d eaten like an adult, maybe if he bothered to train more, maybe if he’d given just a little bit of a shit about someone other than himself and just maybe if he’d put that fuckin’ ring on when I told him to, then all this could have been avoided. But no, he had to be a pampered Princess.”

Gladio winced the moment the words left his mouth.

He’d gone too far, Prompto looking at him aghast, Monica frozen in shock, even stoic Cor looked bitterly disappointed. But it was Ignis glaring at him with cold fury burning in his eyes that really told the tale. Gladio had never seen him so furious. Indignant was long left behind in the dust.

Ignis’ chair made a jarring scraping noise as he shoved it back to place his hands on the table and sneer at Gladio, radiating an anger he knew bubbled beneath the surface yet had never been allowed to boil over, until now, eyes narrowing dangerously, the green almost florescent.

“How _dare_ you?” Ignis spat at him in a hissed whisper. “I may have lost most of the sight of one eye, but you are the one who is blind. That is your _King_ you are disparaging. That man is the one who will save us all and you have _no idea_ even how he’s going to do that, do you? You’ve ignored all the signs. Do you have no idea of the pain Noct goes through every bloody day, just to disguise the limp from you? Do you know how much agony he went through after every training session? How he would be sobbing in exhaustion and pain every night because he couldn’t let _you_ see? Do you know that he would push himself to train on his own when no-one could see just to try and meet your ridiculous standards?” Each of Ignis’ words were delivered like the lashing of a whip, the crack of them biting into Gladio’s skin with a painful burn.

“Ig…” Gladio began.

“No, I think you have said enough,” Ignis cut him off. 

“Uh, guys?” Prompto said meekly.

Cor shook his head, “no, he needs to hear what Ignis has to say.” He fixed Gladio with an implacable glare, “and you need to listen, carefully.”

Ignis stalked around the table and poked Gladio in the chest, “you absolute fucking asshole. He’s been running himself into the ground to appease you, to appease everyone, to _appease the bloody Gods_ , and you call him pampered. He saved my life, you bloody behemoth. Do you know what that ring is? It’s a bloody curse. You speak of it like it’s a trinket that will fix everything when it is anything but. It’s a _death sentence_.” He shoved his hand in Gladio’s face, brandishing the scorch mark under his nose. “Luche Lazaras tried to steal it and burned to ash from _touching_ it. Ravus tried to use it to save his sister from her fate and lost his arm. Had he not dropped it, it would have killed him too. Nyx Ulric, have you never wondered why the Hero of the KingsGlaive never made it out of Insomnia? He struck a bargain to activate the Old Wall and _he burned too_.” He straightened, gesturing wildly, “have you never wondered why every single King and Queen died before their time? You, who prides himself on reading Lucian history.” Ignis laughed bitterly, “they died because of that bloody ring. I struck a bargain with the Kings and Queens whose spirits reside in that ring. My _life_ was that price. My life to use it for a few _minutes_.” His voice broke for a moment, closing his eyes, “I am only alive because that _Pampered Princess_ , as you oh so cleverly called him, saved me.”

Monica waved Dustin over, whispering to him, “make sure Iris and Talcott don’t hear this.” Dustin nodded and fled out the door.

“A few minutes, Gladiolus, and it would have taken my life. I was blind, I could hardly speak and I could feel my life draining away. My blood was turning to ice in my veins. And, here you are, so eager for Noct to wear that blasted thing.”

Prompto’s head was on a swivel, shock written all over his pallid face, freckles standing stark against his skin, “shit.” He covered his mouth with both hands, tears welling in his eyes.

Gladio swallowed nervously, “look, I’m sorry, I…I get it.”

“ _NO YOU DON’T!_ ” Ignis shouted. “What price for saving a world? Why does the prophecy speak of the _LAST CAELUM?_ I’ve seen it, I’ve seen what the Gods want as their price. He is the very best of them.” Ignis stumbled, planting his hand back on the table to steady himself, “the prophecy, that bloody prophecy,” he muttered. “Blood Price! That’s what they want. He has to _die_ to allow the other Kings and Queens to help him save us all.”

Prompto gagged, racing to the kitchen sink and retched up bile. Monica grimaced and went to soothe him, rubbing her hand up and down his back.

“Every day Noct had to watch his father’s life bleeding away because of that ring, he had to see the guilt that wracked his father, because Regis _knew_ what it was going to cost. He knew his son was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. He tried to let Noct have a normal life because he knew he’d never get the chance to live it later.” Ignis sobbed, running a hand over his face, “and no-one told him. He’s a sacrifice and _no-one told him_. He didn’t know until he put the ring on.” Tears began to fall down Ignis’ face, but he ignored them, panting harshly. “I have to save him, I have to find a way,” he whispered.

“Ignis,” Gladio said softly, reaching out only to have his hand shoved away. “I’m sorry.”

Ignis sucked in a breath, “no, no you’re _not_. You’ve spent years berating him, demanding, shouting at him, making him feel worse about himself, sinking him into a deeper depression each and every time. You _belittled_ him! You suck the joy out of him and I had to try and piece him back together every time. But you say I am coddling him, _bah_ ,” he spat. Gladio stood up and Ignis swung at him, fist connecting with his nose with a loud crack.

“Fuck,” Gladio muttered, spitting out blood and holding his broken nose gingerly, vision swimming.

Ignis sneered at him, “ _fool_.” Derision, anger, agony all lacing that one word. He turned on his heel and stormed out the door, slamming it behind him, rattling it on it’s hinges, leaving everyone shell shocked and silent.

Prompto stumbled back to the table and slumped in his chair, shaking his head.

Monica sighed in resignation, “let me reset that nose.” She crossed her arms, “I’ll have to do it without any potions, we need to keep them for emergencies.” 

“He deserves a bit of pain right now,” Cor rumbled from where he was slouched against the wall. Gladio shot him a betrayed glance. Cor laughed dismissively, “you’ve been an asshole, don’t look for sympathy from me. Your father would be deeply ashamed of you right now, as am I.”

Gladio hung his head while Monica bustled about, collecting what she needed to clean his face and reset his throbbing nose. “I’ll have to find him and apologise.”

“I wouldn’t just yet,” Cor said, raising a brow at him. “His heart is shattered, he’s hurting and lost. The last thing he needs from you is empty words, Gladiolus.” He sighed deeply, “he was right, you are blind. Can’t you see how he feels? He loves Noctis. And now…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“What?” Gladio looked from Cor to Prompto who just looked right back with an incredulous expression.

“Seriously? Wow,” Prompto breathed out. “Even I could see how those two feel about each other.”

“Shit,” Gladio whispered.

“One other thing, Gladiolus,” Cor drawled as he straightened. “It’s not your place to decide anything. You don’t get to demand anything of Noctis. You are _his_ Shield, he’s not yours.” He moved towards the door, looking over his shoulder as he left, “you better understand that before Noctis returns or a broken nose will be the least of your worries.”

With that parting shot, Cor closed the door softly behind him. Somehow, that was almost as bad as the way Ignis had slammed it.

“I didn’t know,” Gladio said, morose. Ashamed, disgusted with himself. 

Monica sighed as she started to clean his face, “none of us did, only really Regis knew for sure, but the signs were there all along. Ignis had been suspicious, he’d started to piece it all together before you all left Insomnia. He was asking some very pointed questions. It made more of us examine it closely.” She wiped at the blood dripping from Gladio’s chin, “I found Ignis up the lighthouse not long after you came back from Gralea. He was…upset and it all came out then. He was given visions as he wandered around Zegnautus. When he put the ring on, he said it’s like time stopped. He had a conversation of sorts with the previous Kings and Queens. They told him the rest, including who Ardyn really is.”

“He said he wants to save Noct,” Prompto said hopefully. “Do you think it’s possible, Monica?”

Monica shot him the saddest of smiles, “if there’s anyone who can, it’ll be Ignis, sweet boy.”

Some of the colour came back to Prompto’s face, but then he paled again at her next words.

“Cor didn’t say it, and Ignis doesn’t know, so you absolutely cannot tell him, though I think he’ll puzzle it out too. Regis, knowing Noct wouldn’t be around to be King, had a plan in place. Ignis is meant to take his place and rule.”

Gladio winced as Monica felt at his abused nose, “shit, yeah, I can see that now.” He gripped hold of the arms of the chair as she prodded more. There was a slightly evil gleam in her eyes.

“This is going to hurt.”

He tightened his hold, “you don’t have to sound so… _FUCK.”_ A disconcerting grinding sensation as his nose was reset, blinding pain shooting through his whole face, tears burning his eyes. He batted her hands away and covered his face. “Shit, that hurt.”

“Warned you,” she said smugly. “Consider it my punishment to you for speaking ill of our King. You may think a King needs to be strong of body, but it’s so much more than that. Noctis is stronger than you give him credit for, but he is also compassionate and kind. He _cares_ , Gladio. That is the most important thing. If he’s given the chance, I believe he could be the most wonderful King Lucis has ever had, and that’s not even counting the fact that he would have saved us all.” She stepped back, gesturing to the floor, “now, stop being a baby and clean up this blood, you’ve dirtied my floor.”

Prompto snorted as Gladio merely stared at her retreating back.

Ignis had vanished after his outburst in Cape Caem. At first no-one knew where he was, but eventually Gladio started to gather reports of a lone hunter seeking information. He suspected that at least Cor and Prompto knew what Ignis was up to as neither man seemed overly worried about him, but both refused to answer Gladio’s questions.

So, he tracked him on his own.

He didn’t bother trying to contact him by phone, Ignis had already made it abundantly clear he would only answer for emergencies before Gladio’s idiotic rant had garnered Ignis’ ire. After, well, he sincerely doubted Ignis would respond to his call even then.

He missed him by a week at Galdin. He was three days behind at Meldacio. Then he lost track completely for almost two months, only hearing the barest whisper of information about Ignis’ whereabouts. It became a cycle. Ignis would appear somewhere, then somewhere else, then vanish for months only to pop up in a completely different place. 

But never where Gladio was, which he was sure was probably deliberate on Ignis’ part. And, honestly, Gladio didn’t blame him. He’d hurt him, badly. And he’d shit on the man he was in love with on top of treating him like the kid he had still thought of him as. He was thinking differently now. He could look back and see Noct’s actions in an entirely different light. Monica had been right. Noct was compassionate and kind. If he survived, and Gods, did Gladio hope he would, then he would make an excellent King. One he would be proud of and he had every intention of taking a moment to tell Noct that himself. And Ignis, if he could ever manage to be in the same place as the elusive man.

If Ignis was anything, he was determined.

It took Gladio over twelve months to find him.

He stepped up onto the platform of the haven and spotted Ignis, gaunt, tired from the smudge of purple around his eyes, sitting cross legged on the ground before a campfire. The sneer of derision wasn’t there, but neither was there any warmth, only cold indifference.

At least he hadn’t gotten up and walked away, which was most likely because of the time of night and the fact that daemons were practically salivating at a safe distance from the haven’s protective charm.

Gladio almost lost his nerve, Ignis’ cold stare daring him to come forward or run. He could see that either would be fine.

“I can leave if you want,” Gladio said quietly.

Ignis snorted, “I am not so cruel as to send you out into that,” he said with a wave of his hand. “you may stay.”

“Thanks,” he replied, sinking to the ground. They sat in silence, the only sounds the crackling of Ignis’ fire and the rumbling of daemons in the distance. Gladio cleared his throat a few times, on the verge of speaking, but now that he had Ignis as a captive audience, he had no clue where to start. “So, you’re a hard man to find.”

“Am I?” Ignis drawled, still staring into the fire.

“At least, for me you have been.” Ignis didn’t even blink at that, not that Gladio truly expected him to. When Ignis had his walls up he was nigh on impenetrable. “I wanted to tell you how sorry I am, for what I said in Caem, and for how I had been treating Noct.”

Ignis snorted again, going so far as to roll his eyes, “consider me told.”

“I mean it, Ignis,” Gladio said with a sigh. “I’ll tell Noct too, when he gets back.”

Ignis stiffened, looking away completely, “you will have a long wait,” he murmured.

They fell into another awkward silence until Gladio spoke again.

“How long?”

Ignis worried at his lip, fingers fidgeting with something on the leg of his pants, “long enough that there will no longer be daylight, long enough that Noct will resemble his father. What I saw…” His voice cracked over the words. He inhaled deeply, “he’d aged in the visions I saw. Around ten years if I had to guess. There was a touch of silver in his hair and a beard.”

“Fuck,” Gladio hissed. “On top of everything else, they’re taking ten years from him.” He glanced up at Ignis, “from you.”

Ignis averted his face, but Gladio could see the tell tale gleam of tears in his eyes. “Yes,” he said, terse. “He’ll come back to a world in ruin, and then they’ll take him forever. Pyrrhic. A bitter victory.”

Gladio studied Ignis carefully. He sounded so defeated, broken.

“How do we help him? Is there a way to stop it from happening?”

Ignis laughed, a slightly unhinged laugh, more terrifying that Ignis angry. “Oh, no. We can’t stop it. Everything I have read says so. The Kings and Queens can only utilise their weapons in the Astral plane. Noct must be the one to act as their conduit. I cannot change it.”

Gladio leaned forward, hands on his knees, “you’ve been reading? Where did you find the material?”

“Insomnia,” Ignis spat. “I found them in the libraries of our home, discarded for me to take up.”

Gladio gaped at him, “you…you went back?”

“Oh, yes, many times now,” Ignis replied, just as bitter as before. “Ardyn is taking great pleasure from residing in our home city, swanning about in the Citadel. He’s let daemons begin infesting the streets, magitek standing silent sentinels on every corner.”

“H…how did you get past them?” Gladio asked.

Ignis grimaced, “the daemons are not smart, I know that city like the back of my hand. The magitek are not active, though I have no doubt it will not stay that way. Every couple of months, I head in and take as many books out as I can carry, I store them in a warehouse in Cauthess that the Glaive cleared for my use.”

That answered where Ignis vanished to.

“Have you taken any from the Citadel?” he asked.

Ignis pursed his lips into a thin line, “Ardyn guards it like a dragon over treasure. The books I most want are there and I cannot reach them.” He slapped the ground in frustration, “I am sure I would find something to assist Noct, if only I could get in. The ones I have speak of other texts, older texts and I know them to be in the Citadel archives. So close, yet so far.”

“Fuckin’ hell, we have to get you in there, somehow.”

“I know that,” Ignis hissed. “But I will not put others lives at risk. I cannot.”

As wrong as it was right then, all Gladio could think that if they failed and Noct didn’t survive, then Ignis would make a great king. He didn’t say anything though, refusing to lay that at Ignis’ door. He had to help him, he had to get him access to the Citadel archives.

“I’ll get you in, I’m volunteering for the job, Ignis. You _need_ those books. If anyone can work out how to fuck with the prophecy and keep Noct alive, it’s you.” He stared at Ignis, “ and I’m not takin’ no for an answer.”

Ignis snorted, “when do you ever?” He fixed Gladio with a cold stare, “I will not allow it.”

He almost caved under the weight of that look. Ignis had always been able to make the strongest member of the Council quake with that glare. “Not askin’, Ignis. I’m tellin’ you what is gonna happen.” He sat back on his hands, “like I said, like you said, you need those books, so we’ll get ‘em for ya.”

Ignis remained silent, and Gladio took it as a win that he didn’t argue further.

“Just tell me when you’re ready to make another run into Insomnia and I’ll make sure everything is ready.”

Ignis stared into the fire for a long moment. Then he lifted his head, “fine.”

The King’s Advisor was gone when Gladio woke in the morning.

Prompto called it the “library heist,” and that was picked up by the Glaive and Guard that Gladio consulted about the mission. Three of them had volunteered to accompany Ignis into the city and help him haul as many books as they could carry between them. Gladio and Prompto were in charge of the diversion they had deemed necessary to lure Ardyn away from the Citadel long enough for the small group to get in and out.

The little blonde was almost gleeful at the prospect of creating havoc, and Gladio could hardly blame him. They had to create enough of a ruckus that Ardyn would assume they were trying to take back the city. It would create a dent in stores already low, but every one agreed that it was vital to Ignis’ success.

They kept the most important detail very quiet, not wanting to demoralise the collection of ragtag hunters, Glaive and Guard, the general public knew nothing at all. As far as they were concerned, Ignis was researching how to assist Noctis, not how to keep him alive.

Gladio made a trip to Cauthess and was admitted to Ignis’ personal library in one of the warehouses, gaping at how many books the man had already pilfered from the various libraries around Insomnia. There had to be close to two hundred of them. In one corner, Gladio spied Ignis’ desk, neat and tidy as the man himself, stacks of note paper filled with his handwriting.

But still no Ignis.

He didn’t show up in Cauthess until Gladio said he was ready, quietly informing the Shield that he was prepared for another run.

That was when Gladio introduced him to the three who would be joining him.

“They know the risk and they all volunteered for the job.”

Ignis glared at him, one eye the brilliant emerald it had always been, the other slightly faded, but no less powerful. “I told you…” he began.

Gladio cut him off, “I know, but you need help. This way, less trips need to be made, and it’ll be safer. Prom and I are creating a diversion to get Ardyn to slink out of his hole and we’ll keep him occupied so that you lot can get in and out, maybe even long enough to make two trips and dump the books somewhere safe enough to retrieve later. There will be a truck waiting close by to extract you all once you’re done.”

Ignis frowned, “very well.” He turned to the three Glaives, “it will be a stealth mission, it must not come to Ardyn’s attention that we have been in, at least, not until it is too late.” Glancing back at Gladio, Ignis crossed his arms over his chest, “it really must seem like an attempt at retaking the city, he cannot get a whiff of what I am doing. That way it may even be possible to stage another attack later and do another run if I need to.”

“Exactly, Ignis.” Gladio tried a tentative smile at Ignis, “I want you to be able to get as much out of this as you can, however many times you need.”

Prompto shifted on his feet, “can you use the Armiger? Store some in there?”

Ignis nodded, “it’s how I have managed to accumulate so many already, but it will only hold so much.” He gestured to his collection, “this is the result of three trips on my own. Perhaps, in this one trip we will double what I have here.”

“That’s gotta help, right?” Prompto, ever the optimist, grinned at Ignis.

Ignis smiled back, weak, but it was there, “I certainly hope so.”

“Well then, Big Guy, let’s go blow some shit up,” Prompto laughed, slapping him on the back.

“Yes, you do that,” Ignis added, some of his old glee at the prospect of creating havoc returning, faint, but there.

Gladio took it for the step that it was. Not forgiven, but on the way there.

The mission was a rousing success. Even better than Gladio had hoped. Ignis and his Glaives had made not one but three trips back and forth from their hiding place and when Gladio arrived with the truck to transport the books to Cauthess he staggered at the amount of them. Piles and piles of them, all stacked haphazardly in the rush to get more.

“Prom, call for another truck,” he joked. They would fit in the one he had already, but only just.

Ignis sat on the floor, head on his knees, the three Glaive in similar positions around him.

“Everything go OK?” Gladio asked.

One of the Glaive raised his head, “yeah, he’ll never know we were there. The Library Archive was a mess when we went in, but Ignis here knew what to look for. There’s so many books and stuff in there he shouldn’t even notice these missing.”

“Most of what we took was from a restricted section,” another of the Glaive added. “We entered from a secret passage, so unless the bastard pulls the door down, he’ll not know we were there.” He tilted his head at Ignis, “he showed us the way in.”

Ignis sighed deeply, “I sealed the door from the inside, he’ll have to be very determined to gain access. I can only hope he has no interest in that area. We scattered dust about so that the gaps would seem like they had been there much longer in case he decides to investigate.”

Gladio knelt by Ignis, “do you think you have what you need?”

Ignis raised his head slowly, “I hope so. But I can get back in if need be. I sincerely doubt Ardyn knows of those particular passages. They hadn’t been disturbed.”

“We covered our tracks on the way out too,” the first Glaive said. “Left by the gardens out the back of the Citadel, then through the underground system until we got here. Only saw a few daemons each time and they weren’t hard to avoid.”

“Goblins, Hobgoblins, Ereshkigals mostly,” Ignis added with a groan as he straightened his spine. “The larger, more cunning varieties seem to be stationed only above ground close to the Citadel proper.”

Prompt flopped down near Ignis, covered from head to foot in soot, “how’d ya know about the passages, Igs?”

A small smile graced Ignis’ weary face, “Noct. He showed me when we were children. We used them to play and hide from everyone.”

The second Glaive snorted, “yeah, little terrors they were. Every time they went missing, we knew to search the passages first. Most times that was where they’d be found.” He scratched at his cheek, “didn’t know about the one to the Archive though.”

Ignis laughed, “little boys have scant need of dusty old books, but I knew where they intersected with one that led to a storage room in the kitchens.” He smirked at the Glaive that had spoken, “and I was not a terror, Miles.”

Miles laughed, nudging him in the ribs, “oh yes, you were. I’d be willing to wager the more complex hiding spots were ones you had thought of.”

Ignis eyes gleamed with mirth, “perhaps.”

The three Glaive that had helped Ignis on that first successful run, Miles, Sadda and Tobul, became Ignis’ helpers in sorting through the stacks of books when they were hauled back to Cauthess. It took Ignis two years on and off to go through them all and in that time, Gladio prepared for another run if he needed it.

That time, they only managed two trips in and out before Ignis deemed it too dangerous to continue.

But the smile on his face when Gladio and Prompto met him at their meeting point was triumphant.

He brandished one particularly old tome and pointed to several others in a stack on their own beside a precarious pile of scrolls, “I found these, they were hidden in an alcove that was behind a shelf. We only found it when Sadda extracted several books from the shelf it was behind.”

Gladio very gently took the offered tome, wincing as the binding creaked when he opened it. “This is seriously fucking old.” He squinted at the text, “Old Lucian.”

Ignis nodded eagerly, “that one is mentioned in several of the texts I have already, and it is one that I was hoping to find.”

“Can you read it?”

Ignis raised an offended brow, “of course I can. I studied Old Lucian along with everything else that King Regis suggested to me. He explained it was better to read an original text rather than rely on a possibly flawed translation.” He withdrew the book from Gladio’s hands, frowning, deep in thought and Gladio internally cringed, knowing he would be thinking about why it had been something Regis suggested.

“So, anyway, let’s get these loaded and then you can sort through them,” he said, clapping his hands together.

Ignis raised his head, frown still in place. “Yes,” he said, distracted.

Talcott joined the Glaives helping Ignis with his studies, taking notation for Ignis while he would pace back and forth, book in hand. Ignis said that he was a wonderful help and things went much faster with him there to help organise his thoughts.

But when Gladio went to check on progress one day, he found Talcott with Miles, Sadda and Tobul outside the warehouse, all looking glum.

“What’s goin’ on?” Gladio asked when he got out of his truck.

“He’s in a mood,” Sadda grumbled. “Tossed us out.”

Gladio scratched the back of his head, “uh, OK, what’s he in a mood about?” Ignis could be the most moody bastard he knew, but he wasn’t really the type to throw people out. He was usually too polite for that.

Talcott shrugged, “he was reading something about previous Lucian Kings and Queens, I didn’t see what it was and he stopped dictating to me.”

Miles spoke then. “Sounded like educational requirements, I think.” He paused, “at least that’s what I got a sense of before he stopped reciting.”

Gladio blanched, “oh shit.”

He left the Glaives and Talcott, pushing open the side door to find Ignis pacing, hands to his head, fingers tugging at his hair.

He approached carefully, guessing at what Ignis had learned.

“Ignis?”

Ignis’ head shot up, eyes red, “what do you want?” he asked, dropping his hands to his sides. “I’d rather be alone right now.”

Gladio sighed, “and I’m guessing it’s better if you’re not.” He took another step closer, “you look upset. Might help to talk about it.”

Ignis’ laugh was bitter, “oh, I sincerely doubt that.” He slumped against one of the bookshelves that Prompto had built for him, looking defeated. “I have been incredibly blind to some things, Gladio.”

The Shield crossed to the bookshelf and sat down, resting his back against it, then tugged at Ignis’ hand, “sit down, tell me.”

Ignis was reluctant, but eventually he slid down to the floor, almost collapsing in a heap. He inhaled sharply, then shook his head, “it’s too ludicrous to contemplate.”

“What is?”

“I should have seen it sooner, as soon as I knew about Noct’s fate, it would have been a natural progression to think about who…” He stopped, shaking his head again.

Yep, he knew. He knew what Regis’ plan had been. Gladio closed his eyes, resting his head on a shelf, this was going to be a hard conversation for Ignis to have. He hummed quietly in question, not willing to give away that he knew what Ignis was talking about.

Ignis sighed, sounding unbearably weary, “I never once questioned why it was me that had to learn all the things that Noct should have. Why all that extra care was taken with my education, I just thought it was due to my role as Advisor. Not that…”

Gladio cringed. “Not what?”

“Noct hated being Prince,” Ignis whispered, going off on a tangent. “Loathed it, loathed the spotlight, thinking he would have to take his father’s place, but he was woefully unprepared. And I never once asked why. Regis explained it all away saying he wanted a normal life for his son, but Regis was a man who prepared for everything. Why would he let Noct…” Another deep sigh. “He knew Noct would never rule so he groomed someone to take his place.”

With a hard swallow, Gladio glanced at his friend, noting the way his head hung. “You.”

Ignis laughed bitterly, “me.” He covered his face, shaking his head, “it was as if Regis was ticking off items on a list with how I was trained and educated. And he was.” Ignis gestured to a book discarded on his desk. “There _is_ a list, a list detailing the ideal knowledge a royal needed. I have it, Noct does not. Regis went through it, Mors before him, and every bloody Lucis Caelum before that. But not Noct.” Another laugh, this one choked and broken. “Why educate a Prince who will never rule, best to concentrate on the one who will. Regardless of whether or not I wanted it.” He peered at Gladio, eyes pained, “I don’t want it, I don’t…I’m not…”

Gladio closed his eyes, tipping his head back against the shelf, “I know you don’t.” He scratched his head, “look, I’m gonna say something that you won’t want to hear, and it’s not a slight on Noct, not in any way, I promise you, I’ve been thinking about what he’d be like as king.” He looked over to see Ignis regarding him, carefully controlled. “He’d be a good one, despite not being trained for it. He cares about people, Igs. All I could see was how he was lacking, now I see it differently. But,” he paused, wincing. “You would be good too. And if we can’t…save him, I think you’d find that people would ask you to take over. If Lucis can’t be ruled by royalty, I think you’d be elected, or whatever.”

Ignis’ head hit the shelf making Gladio wince. “Maybe I would decline,” Ignis mused.

Gladio huffed, “no you wouldn’t. That’s not who you are, Igs. Even Noct, who hates being what he is, wouldn’t run away from it when it came down to it. Sure, he’d bitch about it, but he’d do it because it’s what’s needed.” He glanced at Ignis out of the corner of his eye, seeing him stewing. “And what if when Noct comes back, and everything goes well, and he’s around, what if he decided that he wanted to abolish the monarchy? What then? I mean, he’d certainly deserve a break, wouldn’t he? It wouldn’t be running away, he’d be giving the people a choice.”

“I’d welcome that for him,” Ignis said quietly.

“And that would still leave you in the same position, Igs. Not sayin’ you’d like it,” he added.

Ignis snorted. “Gods, what a predicament. Noct…sacrifices himself and I have to take over. Or Noct lives and there’s two options. One he’s forced to do something he never wanted, or I am.”

“Yeah.”

“I’d still rather he was here, no matter what happens after,” Ignis whispered.

Gladio waved a hand at the books and scrolls, “which is why we have this.” He smiled softly, “find a way to give him that chance, Igs. Give you _both_ a chance. If you rule or he does, that won’t matter if he’s alive. Will it?”

Ignis blinked, “no, it wouldn’t.” A small smile lifted the corner of Ignis’ lips. “He’d be alive, nothing else would matter. Not to me.”

“There ya go, Igs, talkin’ sometimes does help,” Gladio grinned.

Ignis’ familiar smirk was back in place making Gladio feel more confident than he had in a long time, “well, with you, it is rather hit or miss.”

Gladio arched a brow at him, “was that a reference to you breakin’ my nose? Coz, seriously, Iggy, I am _never_ makin’ you mad like that again, your right hook is nasty.”

Ignis’ eyes flitted over his nose, expression deceptively mild. “Was it painful having it reset?”

He shrugged, Ignis’ staring implacably at him until he looked away, “yeah, fucking awful, Monica twisted it back into place, said I deserved it, and she was right, I did.”

With a little snigger, Ignis looked away to hide his growing grin.

Gladio let him have that.

“So,” Gladio said, glancing at Ignis. “Does he know how you feel about him?”

Ignis’ cheeks flushed, his gaze steadily on the floor, “yes.”

Gladio’s brows raised. He hadn’t expected that. He’d been sure that Ignis would carry that to his grave, but apparently not. Gods, how had Ignis felt about the wedding? That must have torn his heart out. “Were you…are you…together?”

“I…not exactly, we…discussed things, but with circumstances being as they were I…I told him it could not continue.” Ignis shook his head, “I was more concerned with propriety than I was with his heart. There was no time to talk after…Altissia.”

Gladio closed his eyes, thinking about how Noct had so carefully cradled Ignis’ broken form in Zegnautus. The look they shared as Noct entered the Crystal. “I think he still feels the same, Igs. I couldn’t see it before, but looking back, it’s there, plain as day.” He snorted, “I have no doubt he’ll ream you out about wearin’ the Ring, but don’t waste what time you have with him. If the worst happens, let him have a few days with you, give yourselves that memory, don’t let him go with regrets.”

Ignis eyes flashed as he glanced at Gladio, determined, “I’ll never push him away again.”

Ignis was as good as his word.

The moment Noct stepped into Takka’s old diner, Gladio and Prompto held back as Ignis moved towards him, hands out to take Noct’s.

Neither he nor Prompto heard the words that passed between them, but the way Ignis and Noct clung to each other said enough. Arms wrapped around each other, Noct rested his head on Ignis’ shoulder, burying his face in Ignis’ neck, shaking. Ignis hands were in Noct’s hair, whispering, holding Noct up when the King’s knees threatened to buckle.

Ignis had told him.

He didn’t have to die. Ignis had found a way to subvert the prophecy.

Watching them together, Gladio could see how in tune they were, even when they weren’t speaking, their eyes said it all. They would be fine, Noct would be fine and Lucis would survive.

When Ignis and Noct finally pulled apart it was only to lace their hands together to face Gladio and Prompto. Gladio stepped forward and went down on his knee, fist to his chest, head bowed and recited the words he’d said years ago when he pledged his life to the Crown. This time he was pledging directly to Noct, and he meant every word he said.

Ignis dipped his head, small smile on his lips, Noct looking a little baffled as he reached out and pulled Gladio to his feet.

“Welcome back, Your Majesty.”


End file.
